homeschoolx3inne

My son is interested in making simple computer programs - mazes,
movable guys, games, stuff like that. I am TOTALLY ignorant in this
field and need help finding an easy-to-understand type book or cdrom
(or both) that I could get for him. (beginners guide?) He does not
like to read too much, but will read a lot when it comes to things
he is really interested in. He is only 11 but really understands
computers; knows how to take them apart, identify the parts, fix
smaller problems, etc. It's really quite scary :o)
Any ideas, tips, advice, books, cdroms, kids websites, etc. that you
all can share with me?

Thank you!!!
Joanne in Omaha NE

Fetteroll

on 1/28/05 11:32 PM, homeschoolx3inne at homeschoolx3inne@... wrote:

> I am TOTALLY ignorant in this
> field and need help finding an easy-to-understand type book or cdrom
> (or both) that I could get for him.

Kathryn has used Stagecast Creator software

http://www.stagecast.com/

I think it's $50. I've also seen it occasionally in the Scholastic catalog.
(There's actually a link on the website to Scholastic.) (It's available for
the Mac and that other machine too ;-)

It's very easy to use and has some excellent tutorials that will walk him
through the basics right up to some fairly advanced stuff.

She's also used Multimedia Fusion which I think she said she liked better
but it's only for the PC. And I don't know if they have any tutorials.

I've heard many people mention DarkBasic and I think there's a fair amount
of support out there for it so if he runs into problems he might be able to
find others who can help.

http://darkbasic.thegamecreators.com/

But I think it's a lot more powerful and might be a good next step if he
likes one of the above.

Joyce

homeschoolx3inne

Thanks Joyce, that gives us a great start, Tylor is so excited.
Stagecast seems a little easy for him, the demos were not to
impressive in his eyes .. do you know if a programming language is
used? Or, can you tell me a little more about the process of making
something simple? It seemed like DarkBasic would be more his style,
it has the actual Basic programming language in it. Although he is
only 11, I know he is quite capable of learning this stuff, it's me
who does not understand. :o)
Does anyone else have experience with DarkBasic?
Thanks again!!
Joanne

--- In [email protected], Fetteroll
<fetteroll@e...> wrote:
> on 1/28/05 11:32 PM, homeschoolx3inne at homeschoolx3inne@y...
wrote:
>
> > I am TOTALLY ignorant in this
> > field and need help finding an easy-to-understand type book or
cdrom
> > (or both) that I could get for him.
>
> Kathryn has used Stagecast Creator software
>
> http://www.stagecast.com/
>
> I think it's $50. I've also seen it occasionally in the Scholastic
catalog.
> (There's actually a link on the website to Scholastic.) (It's
available for
> the Mac and that other machine too ;-)
>
> It's very easy to use and has some excellent tutorials that will
walk him
> through the basics right up to some fairly advanced stuff.
>
> She's also used Multimedia Fusion which I think she said she liked
better
> but it's only for the PC. And I don't know if they have any
tutorials.
>
> I've heard many people mention DarkBasic and I think there's a
fair amount
> of support out there for it so if he runs into problems he might
be able to
> find others who can help.
>
> http://darkbasic.thegamecreators.com/
>
> But I think it's a lot more powerful and might be a good next step
if he
> likes one of the above.
>
> Joyce

Fetteroll

on 1/29/05 3:57 PM, homeschoolx3inne at homeschoolx3inne@... wrote:

> the demos were not to
> impressive in his eyes .. do you know if a programming language is
> used?

Yes. The cleverness of the program is that you can write programs entirely
by moving objects around and then writing some rules for behavior. Or you
can mess around with the list of rules which is sort of programming lite. Or
you can get deep into it and modify the code it's written or write code
yourself which has actual if-then statements and variables.

There might still be a free demo download for Stagecast. The one we
downloaded ages ago limited you to three objects.

Kathryn said she didn't see a programming language for the Fusion software.
She just moved things around and it wrote "pictures" like
object-arrow-object to show moving something from one place to another. But
she said maybe you could get beneath that layer and there was a language
there.

But both Stagecast and Multimedia Fusion design 2D environment and DarkBasic
will design 3D environments. The DarkBasic looks way cooler :-) but of
course way cooler usually translates into more complex. But if he's really
motivated that won't be a deterrent.

Maybe there's a demon for DarkBasic?

Joyce